Life-preserver



W. P. TIBBITS.

LIFE PRESERVER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25,.1920.

90,474. Y v PatentedSep't. 13,1921.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W. P. TIBBITS. LIFE-PRESERVER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- PatentedSept. 13,1921.

W. P. TIBBITS.

LIFE PRESERVER.

APELICATION FILED MAY 25, 1920.

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LIFE PRESERVER. APPLICATION FILED MAY25,1920- PatentedSept. 13, 1921.

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LiFE-PRESERVER.

Application filed May 25,

life saving garments and has as-its primary object to provide a garmentembodying a novel arrangement of air chambers which are normallydeflated but which may be readily inflated, and which garment, when uponthe person, will serve to sustain one in a substantially uprightposition'in the water whether in cases of emergency or when one islearning to swim. V

One of the important objects of theinvention is to so arrange the airchambers of the device as to insure of a substantially upright positionbeing maintained so that ones head cannot become submergedfor anyappreciable length of time.

Anotherobject of the invention is toiso construct the device that whilethe air chambers extend beneath thearms and circumferentially of thetrunk, the wearer of the device may have a desiredfreedom of limb 5construct and proportion and arrange theiair --standard size of thedevice to l0? movement so that he may propel himself in the water. 1

A further object of the invention is to pro vide in a device of theclass mentioned em bodying inflatable air chambers, means for inclosingand somewhat restricting the air chambers when "they-are inflated .so asto prevent over inflation and likewise protect the air chambers andprevent'the escape. of air should they become punctured through contactwith pins worn about the clothing.

Another object of the invention is to so chambers that the device as awhole will possess a greater degree ofbuoyancy at its upper portion thanat its lower portion so as to eflectually perform its function of water.

Another important object of they invention isto so construct the devicethat it may be readily adjusted as to size thus adzkpting a .tted to1920. Serial No. 384,052.

. specification of Letters we. Patented Sept.

persons having relatively M widely varying I chest and waistmeasurements;

In the accompanying draw1ngsfone form ofithe device inusfey;

Figure 1 is a perspective viewillustrati'ng.v

Fig. 2 is a detail vertical .sectional viewioni theline 2-2 of Fig. 1;;Fig. 3' is'a top' plan view trunks employed whenthe device 'is' made useof as a bathing suit illustrating the manner in which the trunksmay'beadjusted;

as to size;

Fig.4 isa view. in elevation looking atth e" inner side of theuppergarment of the' de-E v-ice, partsbeing-broken away and part 'sbeing shown in section} Fig. 5 is a detail view partly in elevation andpartly insection illustratinglone' form; of I valve for employment inconnection with the inflating tubes for the air chamber ofthe inflatingdevice Fig. 6 is a similar View illustrating a modi 75' Fig. 7 is a viewsimilar to -Fig; 1 flll'LlS-Z fled and simplified form of valve; 'f

trating a modified form of device of the pair of Fig. 8 isa detailvertical sectional-viewon the line 8-8 of Fig. 7';

Fig. 9 is a view similar to 4- trating the form'of theinvention -showninFigs. 7 and 8.

Figs. '1 to 4' inclusive illustrate a form {of the invention which isespecially designed:

for use by one learning to swim and @1115 prises, in combination, anupper'body gar The form of ment' and a pair of trunks.

the invention shown inFigs; 7,' 8 and 9' is illustrated ascomprisingth'e upper garment only and is more particularly designed foruse as alife preserverln an'emergency." It will be understood,howeverythat the latter form-may be employed in combination with V apairof trunks and that on-the other hand the form of the invention shownin 'Figsfl,

2 and 'may be employed as an emergency The upper garmentiin the form'of. the

life preserving deviceindependently of'the I trunks which areillustratedincombination ztherewith.

invention shown inuFigs. 1 to 4 inclusive, indicated in general by thenumeral 1' and the same resembles in many respects anordlE nary vest,being" open atjits front and being provided with shoulder portions 2which define arm openings 3 and which are to be passed over theshoulders of the person upon whom the garment is fitted.

The body portion of the garment 1 is indicated in general by the numeral4 and the upper portion, which embodies the shoulder.

' plies otthebody portion 4. of the garment,

of which the inner plyis indicated by the numeral 7 and the outer: plyby the numeral 8, are united by parallel lines of stitching 9 whichextend circumferentially of the said body portion of the garment.Likewise the lower edges of the inner and outer plies 7 and 8 are unitedby lines of stitching 10.

Thus. there is formed in the body portion of the garment a series ofcircumferentially extending pockets 11, 12, 13 and 14, there being foursuch pockets in the present instance although it ,will be understoodthat the numbergof pockets may be increased or decreased asifounddesirable. The plies 7 and 8 are further united at their vertical edgesas indicated by the numerals 15" and 16 so that when the garment isfitted to the person, the

front portion 15 may overlap the front portion 16. Inthat form of theinvention now being described, the portion 15 is formed witha verticallyextending series of button- 1 holes'l'? to receive buttons upon theopposite front portion 16 of the garment. These buttons are preferablyarranged in a plurality of vertical rows, one row, located substantiallyat the edge of the portion '16, being indicated by the numeral 18,'andother rows 19 and 20. being arranged parallel to the first mentioned rowbut, in the order designated, being spaced increasing distances inwardlyof the said vertical edge of the front of the garment, Thus if thegarment is applied to a stoutperson the row of buttons 18 may be engagedthrouighthebuttonholes 17, or if the;garment;.would fit too loosewhenthus applied,.the edge, portion 15 may be caused to overlaptea-greater extent the'edge portion16, an d either thebuttons 19 or thebuttons 20mafy-be engaged through the buttonho1es17; In this manner thegarment may hav ng different chest measurements.

be adapted to more or less snugly fit persons It Wlll be understood, ofcourse, that more than three rows of buttons may. be provided or i 31.-A disk or facing 32 o'f rubber or [any less-than that number-N I Byreference to ig.'4 of the drawingsi will be observed that the pockets11, 12, 13 and 14 extend the entire width of the garment. Arrangedwithin each of these pockets is an air chamber preferably in the natureof a rubber tube, and these air chambers are indicatedrespectively bythe numerals 21,22, 23 an'd24. The pocket 11 is the uppermost pocket andthe pocket 14 is the lowermost pocket of the series, the pocket 12 beinglocated below the'pocket .11 and above the pocket 13. The air chambers21 and 22 are of substantially the same capacity as are also the airchambers 23 and 24 but preferably the air chambers 2l-and 22 are ofgreater capacity than the chambers 23 and 24, and in practice thechamber 21 will be fully inflated while the air chamber 22 will be notquite so fully inflated. Likewise the air chamber 28 will besubstantially fully inflated but the chamber 24 will not be so fullyinflated as the chamber 23. Thus the air chambers will be of increasingbuoy: ancy from the lowermost chamber of the series to the uppermostchamber so that as a consequence the head and shoulders of the onewearing the garment will be most effectually sustained above waterand'the body will be supported substantially in an up right position; I

The pockets 11, 12, 13 and 14 are proportioned in accordance with thedifference in size between the several air chambersor tubes which theyare to receive and house but one feature of theinvention resides informing each pocket, as regards its vertical dimensions, of somewhatsmaller size thanm the respective tube or air chamber which is containedtherein so that when the air chambers are inflated they will be somewhatrestricted and thus prevented from being overinflated, and at the sametime the cloth pockets, when wet by'water, will so snugly fit therespective air chambers .as to prevent or at least 'materially retardthe escape of air in theevent of a small puncture such as might beoccasioned by a pin in the clothing.

In order that each of the air chambers may be'inflated or deflatedindependently of the others, each chamber is provided with an inflatingtube 25 preferably of rubber and placed in communication with theinterior of the chamber in any suitable manner.-

Fitted into the end'of this tube is an inflating check valve which be ofthe form shown in Fig. 5 of the drawingsin which'figure the numeral 26indicates the valve casing provided between its ends 'with a diaphragm27 the under side ot which constitutes a' valve seat indicated by thenumeral 28, this diaphragm having a central opening 29 through whichextends the upper portion of the stem 30. of the valve which isindicated in general by the numeral provided upon the uppenfaceof thevalve body 31 so asto insure of anair-tight engagement of the valveagainst its seat. The upper extremityof the valve stem30 projects beyondthe upper or outer end of the casing 26 and may be provided with a knobor enlargement v3.3 against which pressure may be exerted for thepurpose ofmoving the valve tov open position. The lower portion of thestem of the valve is indicated by the numeral 34 and aspring 35 isfitted onto this-portion of thej stem, and bears at its upper or outerend against the valve'body 31 and at its opposite end against a plug 36which is threaded or fitted in any othersuitable manner. removably intothe inner end of the casing 36 and is provi'ded with a central opening 37 through which the said lower portion 34 of the valve stem may work,This plugis alsoprovided with one or more air ports 38. The valve casing28 islfitted at its 'lastmentio'ned end into the outer end of therespective inflating tube andsecured in any suitable manner as forexample bywire wrapping the end of the tube. In inflating the'airchamber the outer or exposed end of the valve casing is placed in themouth and air is blown through the casing-and past'the valve and intothe-respective air chamber, the valve opening withthe pressureandimmediately closing so as to trap the injected air.-, -The inflatingtubes 25 leadingfrom theseveral air chambers may extend tothe exteriorof therespective pockets at any convenient points and in any desiredmanner but are preferably arranged-so that they will all be readilyaccessible when the garment is fitted to the person so that in the eventof deflation or partial deflation of any of the air chambers, the samemay be conveniently re- 7 inflated.

Fig. 6 of the drawings illustrates a modified form of inflating tube,the tube in this figure being indicated by the numeral 39 and beingadapted to be closed by a tapered plug 40 which may be connected withthe tube by a suitable flexible element 41. In using this form ofsealing device for the tube the tube will, of course, be pinched aftereach injection of air into the air chamber, and after the chamber hasbeen inflated, the plug 40 will be fitted into place.

As before stated this form of the invention comprises, in addition tothe upper gar ment 1, a pair-of trunks which are most clearlyillustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings and indicated in generalby the.

lapping, the; opposite side of the front. as a clearly shown in Fig. 3of the drawings,-'the first mentioned side being provided with abuttonhole 46 to-receive the buttons 43 selec tively. Thus thefirstmentioned side of the tongues may-bebuttoned to the opposite sidethereof 7 selectively differently spaced points so as to adapt the waistportion of a standard size of the trunks to fit persons having differentwaist measurements.v .In order jto further provide for adjustment of thetrunks at the waist-line, and also to provide means wherebythelegportionsof .the trunks may be made smaller or larger, the trunks areprovided at eachside with a vertical series of: snap .or similarfasteners, one member of each fastener being indicated by the numeral 47and the othermemberby the numeral 48. When itis desired to restrict thewaist portionof the trunks and also the leg portions, the fastening.elements may be engaged with each other, the opposite sides of thetrunks being lapped ,or folded for this purpose, and. on the other handthe'trunks may be increased in size by disengaging the fasteningelements from each other.

ln'that form of the invention shown in Figs.'7, 8,-and 9, the bodygarment is indicated in general by the-numeral 49 and mas-- much as itis substantially identical with the form previously; described, it willonly be necessary to point out such slight-differences as exist. .Inthis form of the invention the two. plies comprising the body of thegarment are united as :in' the first describedforni, to providepockets,the dividing lines of stitching being indicated by the numeral50. However, in this form the lines of stitching 50 extend from one sideof the open front of the garment to a point spaced inwardly from theopposite side of the said front as indicated by the numeral 51, andinstead of providing an independent air chamber in each pocket, each airchamber comprises a tube 52 which is folded between its ends so thatone-half will lie within an upper pocket and the other half within thepocket next below it, the tube at its bend extending through the spaceprovided by stopping the line of'stitching 50 short of the lastmentioned side of the front of the garment, as indicated by the numeral53.

Also in this form of theinvention, instead of the buttons andbutto-nholes provided in the first described form for closing the frontof the garment, I may make use of tongue. and hasp fasteners the tonguemembers of which are indicated by the numeral 54 and the hasp members bythe numeral 55. Other wisethe arrangement is the same and the garment isemployed in precisely-the same manner as is the one first described.Also in this form all of the air chambers may be of the same dimensionsasalso'all of the pockets. Y Y i While I have specifically described theuse of buttons and buttonholes and tongue and hasp fasteners, itwill beunderstood that I may employ any type of devices for closing the garmentsuchfor example as snap fastion in the water it is onlynecessary for himto raise his head in an upward and rearward direction, and if he isswimming on his back and desires to assume an upright position it isonly necessary to raise the head in aforward direction. I It will beunderstood that while the air chambers 21, 22, 23 and 24; may beinflated to different pressures as previously explained, it will beunderstood that if it becomes necessary to obtain a greater buoyanoy,all of these air'chambers may be fully inflated. I

Having thus'described the invention, what is claimed as new is: I

1. In a device of the class described, a garment provided with anopenfront and having the side portions of its front adapted to beoverlapped to a greater or less eiztent, closing means upon theoverlapping side of the front, a plurality of closing means upon theoverlapped side of the front spaced at v varying distances from the edgeof the said side, and an inflatable air chamber extendingcircumferentially of the garment.

'2. In a device of the class described, an upper garment provided withaseries of circumferential pockets located one above another with thelowermost pocket extending substantially at the waistline, inflatableair chambers housed within the pockets, an at taching'flap upon theinnerside of the gargarment having a circumferential pocket terminatingat its ends adjacent the said open front, an inflatable chamber in thepocket, a lower garment, means for connectingthe garments substantiallyat their waist-lines, the lower garment-having an open front, and meansfor closing the open front of'the lower garment selectively along linesspaced varying distances from one side of the said open front thereof.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WILEY'P. TIBB1Ts..- L.s. I

